what 800 bucks gets ya these days

[motzingg]

Well, that about sums up how my son and I are feeling about picking up this '68 f100.

Found this fantastic website trying to track down the Vin code today.

She was built Jan '68 in Ontario, born in the cold. Having lived most of my life in that climate, I think that makes you a bit tougher. Spent the better part of the last 60 years in a barn somewhere staying clean, then some 'local boy' dragged it out and got it running, drove it until something else went wrong that he couldn't fix, and traded it in to a mom and pop used car dealer for 800 bucks. I paid the same and got a nice new (used) battery thrown in to boot!

She's got a 240 six with the Carter carb. 3 on the tree, still haven't figured out what transmission is in it.. I'll have to look at the door card. Also curious about the rear gearing.

I was looking for a bulletproof truck with decent gas mileage i can daily-drive, haul anything when necessary, and still have some fun with. Plus my wife says i've gotta have something cool... This fits the bill.

For right now the first order of business is to clean a few years' varnish out the carb. Rebuild kit for good measure. The dealer tried throwing in new points to get it to run- the plugs are fouled to hell- but I don't think they knew how points work so i can probably get it running with a set of plugs and some tuning.

After that a quick once-over, tires are fair, brakes hold pressure... probably the suspension bushings in the front end to start with. A set of stock-ish shocks in front and a set of air shocks in the rear to help towing. Fab up a badass reciever hitch and start cleaning up the ***** rattle-can paint job.

Maybe a 2v carb conversion with an autolite 2100. Maybe a ford electronic dizzy but i kinda like points with a hotter coil.

Then drive the hell out of it.

Some gratuitous glamour shots.

[fireguywtc]

from Texas!

[1970FordTK]

Welcome from North Carolina.

[crazyhorse]

Mr Zingg , congratulations, Super deal.
I hope ya'll enjoy it.
Thanks for posting.

Welcome to the best site period.
Hope you like it here.
Pull up a chair and stay awhile.

[papabug71]

to the site! Super deal on a short bed. I'm gonna have a short bed one of these days if it hair lips the governor.

If it's a 3 speed, it's gotta be the Ford toploader also called the "303" 3 speed. Unless it has a overdrive unit on it, but the OD 3 speeds are not very common.

As for gears, it could be anything. Could have stump pullers in it, could have highway flyers & anything in between. Do you have the data plate on the drivers side door?

[sargentrs]

from Georgia! Mine was born in Ontario too, but for the Atlanta distribution area.

[motzingg]

yeah, i wasn't able to get it started where she sits about 1.5 hrs from home, so I'm headed down this weekend with a tow dolley (it should be ok to tow in neutral that short distance, right?) to grab it.

Forgot to pull the numbers off the door plate when i bought it, will be doing some sleuthing when i get home.

and yes, this site is fantastic, the ratio of competent polite people to morons/jerks seems to be very high.

I'm a mechanical engineer, machinist, and shade-tree mechanic so i hope i can add to the resource.

[Calfdemon]

from SoCal

And you sir, STOLE that truck for $800!! That would been a steal for a longbed truck, but to get a shortbed for that price, well, they had no idea what they were selling!

[motzingg]

oh i don't think anyone got taken on this one... its going to take a couple grand to turn it into a $1500 truck, but thats OK with me. plus as i've seen discussed on a couple other threads, the value of these old trucks vary significantly from place to place around the country, and from what i've seen it looks like this area is pretty low.

I like to start like this, and do all the work myself so i know everything is rock solid. more importantly this truck had the manual trans and straight six i was looking for, solid/straight body (no accidents or rust) and left me with enough money to attend to the things i think are important. I've passed on a few with bad v-8 swaps, auto trans, or cancer because, well, they are pretty plentiful around here and i could afford to.

where i come from in wisconsin a truck like this is impossible to find, and if you do it's either beat to hell hauling scrap or the seller wants some insane amount of money for it. I really see the value of these classic trucks going up in the near future and I don't want to be the guy saying 'man i could have bought that thing 10 years ago for 800 bucks' when they do. Not to resell but just because i want one FOREVER.

Oh yeah and i just discovered that borg-warner T85 overdrive! Talk about a cool transmission.. i gotta get my hands on one of those! Probably a long shot hoping my truck has one, but it should be an easy drop-in with the current engine and trans.

Also, the paint job is 200 times worse in person than in the pictures... it has bugs and dirt under it, looks like they didn't even wash it before they painted it in some places. My wife is pulling for the cream color ever since i showed her the Gas Monkey shop truck to convince her I have good taste.

[popeyes71]

from California! Have fun with your new toy/project.

[lennyp]

from Massachusetts.

[Calfdemon]

You may not think that truck is worth much more than the $800 you paid right now, but just try and find a short bed (just the bed) in good condition for less than $600. The long bed trucks are a dime a dozen and are all over the place, but the short beds are not very common, and are in greater demand due to people's desire to turn them in to street truck hotrods. Sure, you are going to put a couple grand in that truck, but it will be worth more than $1500 just in parts. That shortbed frame and bed alone are worth over $1000.

[motzingg]

there is a shortbed bed by me for 450 right now, very clean, no cancer. i think an SWB frame is up on buddy craig's for a couple hundred too...

i'd be tempted to try to grab the bed but mine isn't that bad and it has trim strips, i like the trim-free look.

[Calfdemon]

there is a shortbed bed by me for 450 right now, very clean, no cancer. i think an SWB frame is up on buddy craig's for a couple hundred too...

i'd be tempted to try to grab the bed but mine isn't that bad and it has trim strips, i like the trim-free look.

I wish I lived in your neck of the woods then (where is that by the way?... Nevermind, just read back and saw Wisconsin). But then think about it... That bed for sale is $450 by itself, which is still cheap, but that is over half of what you paid for an entire truck. You did VERY well with your purchase.

[occupant]

I'm tempted to buy a tinker with a 302/3-speed short bed and get it running/driving decent just so I can trade it for a nicer long bed.

This was a good good buy and we need more pics after it's washed and cleaned up and going down the road!